Posts Tagged ‘ Financial sector ’

The bank regulators did not urge the government to tax real estate more. That would have squeezed homeowners on their bank loans – and left less new rental income to be capitalized into new bank loans. But it would have enabled the government to reduce its heavy taxes on employment. This was not the...

Well, the problem is is the financial time frame is very short-term. It's hit and run. They're into making a bundle as quick as they can on one project and then go on to the next project. And they leave an economy loaded down with debt, which is what you have from the corporate...

As first published in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The easiest way to understand Europe’s financial crisis is to look at the solutions being proposed to resolve it. They are a banker’s dream, a grab bag of giveaways that few voters would be likely to approve in a democratic referendum. Bank strategists learned not to risk...

Has the Link been Broken? *This article appeared in the Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung on December 5, 2011. Book V of Aristotle’s Politics describes the eternal transition of oligarchies making themselves into hereditary aristocracies – which end up being overthrown by tyrants or develop internal rivalries as some families decide to “take the multitude into...

The New Bank Disaster Olafur Arnarson, Michael Hudson and Gunnar Tomasson* The problem of bank loans gone bad, especially those with government-guarantees such as U.S. student loans and Fannie Mae mortgages, has thrown into question just what should be a “fair value” for these debt obligations. Should “fair value” reflect what debtors can pay...

Michael discusses the growing Occupy Wall St movement and the opportunities for banking reform. "How are you going to re-criminilise fraud? Tim Geithner is a bank lobbyist and should not be in charge of the Treasury".

NY Times, August 11, 2011 A debate between five economists on “Why Aren’t Germans Protesting?” Rightly Disgusted at the Banks A bailout, like any other government expenditure, is a tax. Someone must pay all this money. And it is unfair to tax the broad population to pay for a special interest. Instead of being...

Geithner says, wait a minute, American banks have made huge billion-dollar--maybe, for all we know, a trillion-dollar bet that the Greeks will repay. They've made derivative plays, they've made cross-party insurance, and American banks would lose money. Now, if there's a choice between American banks losing $1 and Europe going into neo-feudalism for a...